I am busily working on my rooster plates. As I go I am beginning to
understand the advantages of a key block. Correct me if I am wrong, but the
black lines would fill in the areas in case there is a slight bit of white
left between areas because we are human and it is all but impossible to
carve to an exact fit????
Thomas congratulations for taking the plunge with the sumi. Hanga is a
challenge, but when you start to get the feel of it, it is worth it. Your
print is very interesting in content, thanks for sharing.
I am one of those folks that take a while to learn new things, but once i
get it I am usually good with it. So, I know if I can everyone can do this,
keep with it!
Another thing I am learning about printing is that I brushed on too much
water. You want just a little, that water brush should be damp only, than
the pigment is stronger, you can do in one pass what might take several. so
more pigment and less wet really do work. Thanks to David Bull for this
instruction at the summit.
Marilynn

Congratulations on receiving this commission -I've just gazed at length on
your wonderful woodblocks of the trees and look forward to seeing the
prints - incidentally what is the size of the blocks? and what wood did you
use - or have I missed seeing those details?
bw
Louise Cass

Blocks are 16x20 inches, roughly 40x50 cm, plank cherry (jointed) purchased
at Lakeshore Hardwoods (dot com). Comes planed and ready to carve although I
like to smooth it to a glass finish with 220/320/400/600/1200 sandpaper.

Paper is 19x23 inches, or 48x58 cm, hand made by Beech Grove Paperworks for
this project.

I will update the pages with those details. Finished printing last night
after a 13 hour marathon session. I printed "the" print for the commission
and 4 more on the BGP paper and about 5 proofs each on Stonehenge cream.
Since I designed the prints with the yummy paper in mind they look kind of
plain on the Stonehenge.

You've become quite a popular artist in Portland. I've stumbled across your work hanging up at two different galleries this week! Waterstone Gallery and some coffee shop I walked into on Alberta. The solar plates are looking really great. Well done.

Thanks Bobby, the gal that owns the coffee shop is a personal friend and I am part owner of Waterstone, there are 14 of us that own it so I always have work there. So I am not quite as popular as it looks! Wonderful though I am, of course.

Occasionally Waterstone has an open month, hard to believe that with 14 member we would not have all the slots filled every year but we do not seem to as some of us can only stand to do all the work for a solo show every couple of years. It might be fun to mount a juried baren show if we ever have an open month, at this point it would be in 2006. If anyone on the baren thinks this might be a good idea, I would like to hear from you. You can look at the gallery here www.waterstonegallery.com It would have to be a juried show as all the members would have to approve the work, as it is in our bylaws that we do so. Let me know OFF LIST at barbaramason45@yahoo.com , lets not fill up the woodblock site with this.......but if enough people let me know they are interested, I will pursue it. It would not have to be all woodblock, but all relief prints would be my first choice so we can promote the baren at the same time. Also all the work would have to be for sale and Waterstone takes 35% of
sales..so take that into consideration. We can mat and frame here or hang it with plexi and clips as we have those, so framing will not be mandatory for anyone who does not do it themselves. This will make it a little more cost effective and less expensive to ship.
best to all,
Barbara